For these courses completion of the academic award leads directly to a professional qualification, statutory registration and eligibility to practise, therefore the University has a responsibility to ensure that you will be a safe and suitable candidate for that profession – therefore in order to receive your degree and professional status you must abide by the University’s regulations and the requirements of the relevant professional body (e.g. the Nursing and Midwifery Council for students on the Nursing programme).

What circumstances could affect your fitness to practice?

Examples of potential fitness to practice issues:

If you have deliberately tried to mislead / been dishonest with the University – for example you have intentionally not disclosed something which is relevant to your fitness for your chosen profession or have misled University staff over assignments or placements
You have committed violence or been involved in illegal acts which would make you unsuitable for your chosen profession
If you have been absent from your studies due to illness or a personal issue, such as bereavement, and that issue may affect your ability to focus or perform to standard on your course – you will need a report from your healthcare practitioner to help show that you are fit and ready to resume your studies
If you have ignored guidance given to you by the University, or have otherwise shown a lack of awareness of your own fitness to practice then this in itself can be a fitness to practice issue – as a professional you will be expected to keep an eye on your own performance and be able to identify any issues which could compromise your work
This is just a handful of suggestions of fitness to practice issues: there will be others not mentioned here.

What happens if your fitness to practice is questioned?

If issues regarding your fitness to practice are raised, and your Head of School (or equivalent) judges that it is a fitness to practice issue and not unrelated misconduct, then there are two possible routes it may go down:

Informal resolution:

Initial attempts to resolve the issue will be made by trying to come to a mutual agreement between you and relevant members of staff. Outcomes at this stage range from no action taken to being issued with a notice of improvement; for which objectives and timescales for completion will be mutually agreed between you and the School.

If you fail to fulfil the terms of your notice of improvement within the timescale agreed; or informal attempts fail to resolve the issue; or the matter is considered too serious then it will proceed to the:

Formal process:

There are 2 stages to the formal process:

Stage one: Referral to the School Fitness to Practice Panel

You will be invited to attend a meeting where the Head of School will summarise the case against you and you will be allowed to summarise your own case. If you are unable to attend you can submit a written defence for the panel.

Once both cases have been heard and both sides questioned the Panel will consider the case and make its decision on the evidence provided. The decisions the Panel can make range from ruling that there is no case to answer, up to the severest penalty of expulsion from the University with immediate effect.

Stage two: Appeal to the University Fitness to Practice Panel

You may lodge an Appeal within 10 working days of receiving the panel’s decision, but only on the following grounds:

New evidence – which couldn’t reasonably have been brought to the School panel
A procedural irregularity
Evidence of prejudice or bias
To lodge an appeal it is important to be able to provide evidence to support your claim – without it your appeal will not go ahead.

The University Fitness to Practice Panel can either rule to uphold or not uphold the appeal. You should be aware that it can also make any recommendations it considers appropriate; this can include increasing any penalty the School Panel imposed.

Regulations

The Fitness to Practise Regulations are contained within Part D (1) (Pharmacy, Social Work, Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine) and Part D (2) (Nursing) of the University General Regulations which can be found by clicking HERE

First Name Last Name E-mail Address Business PhoneLisa Baker lbaker@lincoln.ac.uk 01522 886665